– Witness expected to speak about his personal assignment to infiltrate the WPA and to carry out acts of ‘subterfuge and assassination’
ONE of the witnesses to testify at the Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the death of Working People’s Alliance (WPA) Founder, Dr. Walter Rodney is expected to speak about his personal assignment to infiltrate that organisation and to carry out acts of “subterfuge and assassination.”

Lead Counsel to the Commission, Mr. Glen Hanoman said, at the opening session yesterday morning, that he prefers to let this witness and one more, remain anonymous for some time, due to safety and security concerns.
The COI, which commenced in the Supreme Court Law Library was ordered by President Donald Ramotar last February 6.
According to Hanoman, the particular witness will testify about his membership in the Special Squad of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), which has been referred to as the ‘Death Squad’ and about surveillance work done by it, including its attendance at WPA meetings.
Further, the witness will reveal details about his having to report to Laurie Lewis, Cecil ‘Skip’ Roberts and Norman Mc Clean and taking directions from them as the “intellectual authors.”
The unnamed witness would also talk about his associations with Dr. Rupert Roopnarine, William Gregory Smith (accused of Dr. Rodney’s murder but now deceased) and persons who were known by certain code names like ‘Chico’.
The man would also talk about his eventual imprisonment at Special Branch Headquarters and of interventions by Mr. Hamilton Green at the time.

OTHER WITNESSES

Other witnesses to give evidence, should time and circumstances permit, are Malcolm Rodrigues, Leslie James, Karen De Souza, Lawrence Edward Rodney, Reuben Gilbert, Lincoln Lewis and a representative of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF).
According to Hanoman, Rodrigues will testify about the prevailing political environment in Guyana between 1975 and 1980 and the early beginnings of the group which, later, became the WPA political party.
Rodrigues will talk, too, of the atmosphere and political meetings held by Dr. Rodney during the late 1970s and about the support given by him to Dr. Rodney’s immediate family on the day of the latter’s death.
It is also anticipated that Rodrigues will recall having to identify Dr. Rodney’s body at the mortuary and provide details of the funeral.
De Souza will talk about events on June 30, 1980, about her interaction with Dr. Rodney and her observations of his personal injuries and state of mind, minutes after the explosion that killed him and tell what she observed on the scene of the incident.
The eldest Rodney sibling, Mr. Lawrence Edward Rodney will talk about the family and its early history and also provide a detailed account of the sequence of events on June 9, 1980 and June 16, 1980, including his arrest by the GPF immediately after the death of his brother.
Reuben Gilbert is not in the best of health but Hanoman said he is expected to give evidence about his difficulty in obtaining and maintaining employment in Guyana after returning from his studies in North America. He will tell of his interactions with late Presidents Forbes Burnham and Dr. Cheddi Jagan, and Dr. Rodney.

BEING BEATEN
Hanoman said Gilbert will testify about being beaten by members of the House of Israel and members of the Young Socialist Movement (YSM) to the point where his ribs were fractured and he was hospitalised for a week, as well as his arrest and incarceration and his flight from Guyana to avoid persecution.
Trade unionist Lincoln Lewis is expected to speak on the manner in which the labour unions in Guyana were energised by Rodney.
Hanoman said the GDF Representative is to produce all available records related to William Gregory Smith, the movement of arms and ammunition out of the control of the GDF, the flights of GDF aircraft during the late 1970s and 1980s and any other activities related to joint intelligence.
The ninth witness, Senior Superintendent of Police Leslie James, attached to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), was called to the witness stand yesterday.
His primary purpose was to tender in evidence files that got into his possession while he was Head of the Police Special Branch and now that he is Crime Chief.
The files from the Special Branch contain detailed accounts of the surveillance activities of that unit in relation to the period 1978 to 1980 and the originals were brought to the COI. Contrary to early investigations by Hanoman and others, a lot of that original material still exists and was not destroyed as had been reported by Heads of Special Branch.
The files tendered yesterday were in relation to a compilation for prosecuting William Gregory Smith on the charge of murdering Dr. Rodney. They contained copies of two post mortem reports, one by local pathologist Dr. Leslie Mootoo and the other by British pathologist Dr. Hugh Johnson.
The files also contain a report from forensic scientist Dr. Frank Scuse, several witness statements and more documents.
By Telesha Ramnarine